Parma vs Genoa: A Battle for First Victory in Serie A
Two of Serie A’s five winless sides walk into the Ennio Tardini on Sunday knowing exactly what is at stake. Parma and Genoa are still searching for their first league victory of the 2026-27 campaign, and the table already makes for uneasy reading.
Both have only found joy in the cups. Both are stuck near the bottom. Something has to give — or it might not, which is part of the problem.
Parma stuck between promise and anxiety
Parma’s season can be read two ways. Glass half-full: Carlos Cuesta’s team have finally shown some resistance in their last two outings. Glass half-empty: they have not won a competitive game since mid-August.
That last success came in the Coppa Italia, a 2-0 win over Catania. Since then, the slide. Four defeats in five across all competitions, and a worrying habit of disappearing in the final third.
The numbers tell the story. Parma failed to score in Serie A losses to Cagliari (1-0) and Juventus (2-0), then went out of the cup with a 2-0 defeat at Cremonese at the start of September. Three games, no goals, mounting pressure.
The mood has shifted slightly in the past week. A 1-1 draw with Monza on matchday four finally put a point on the board. Then came a narrow 2-1 loss to Champions League debutants Como on Monday night, a defeat but not a collapse.
Cuesta will cling to that. The performances have been more competitive, the structure tighter. Yet the table does not care about performances. Parma sit 17th, with only two league goals to their name and a three-year drought without a win against Genoa hanging over them. They have not beaten the Ligurian side in four attempts.
The Ennio Tardini expects a reaction. It also expects goals, which is where the tension lies.
De Rossi’s Genoa searching for a spark
On the opposite bench stands Daniele De Rossi, still building his reputation as a coach, still carrying the aura of a World Cup winner and Roma icon. His Genoa, though, are stuck in a rut.
A midweek cup win over Sudtirol brought some relief and their first clean sheet of the season in any competition. It was a needed breather. The league tells a harsher truth.
Genoa are second-bottom after four Serie A matches. They have not won in the league for nine games under De Rossi. The last victory? A 2-1 success against Pisa, who have since dropped out of the division. Since then: six defeats, three draws, and a steady slide down the standings.
The problems are clear and brutally simple. Only two league goals scored — the same meagre tally as Parma. Eight conceded, the fifth-worst defensive record in the division, behind only Venezia, Monza and Fiorentina (all on 11) and Udinese (10).
If results elsewhere go their way, a win on Sunday could lift Genoa as high as 13th. That leap shows how early it still is. It also underlines how damaging another blank afternoon could be.
The clean sheet against Sudtirol offers a sliver of hope. The question now is whether the Rossoblù can turn that into a platform for their first league win in 10 attempts.
Team news: thin margins, missing pieces
Cuesta at least has continuity on his side. Parma report just one absentee: Hans Nicolussi Caviglia, sidelined by a groin problem. Everyone else is available.
What he does not have is last season’s main weapon. Mateo Pellegrino, who hit nine league goals last term, now plays for Fiorentina. Without him, Parma are scrambling for a new match-winner.
So far, only Simone Lontani and David Romero have scored for the Emilians in Serie A this season. Two scorers, two goals, four gameweeks. The lack of variety in attack is stark, and it shapes how Parma approach this game: cautious, structured, hoping for a moment rather than banking on a barrage.
Parma are expected to line up with Corvi in goal behind a back three of Delprato, Troilo and Carlos. Britschgi, Bernabe, Keita and Valeri should form the midfield band, with Toure supporting Lontani and Romero up front. It is a side built on energy and industry, searching for a cutting edge.
Genoa arrive with more disruption. Johan Vasquez, who scored against Frosinone and then hit the winner against Sudtirol in midweek, is suspended after his red card last weekend. His absence strips De Rossi of one of his few recent bright spots.
Injuries add to the headache. Elias Havel (ankle) and Lorenzo Venturino (knee) are both out. The attacking burden falls heavily on Milutin Osmajic, the only other Genoa player to score this term. His solitary goal came in a 4-1 loss to Como in early September — a reminder that even when Genoa find the net, they often pay at the other end.
De Rossi is likely to go with Bijlow in goal, a back three of Marcandalli, Ostigard and Otoa, and wing-backs Ehizibue and Ellertsson. Frendrup and Sow should anchor midfield, with Baldanzi operating between the lines behind Osmajic and Colombo. On paper, there is enough there to trouble Parma. On the pitch, that remains to be proved.
A game that threatens to suffocate
Strip this match down and a pattern emerges: two sides short on confidence, short on goals, and wary of making the mistake that sends them deeper into trouble.
Parma and Genoa have played out two consecutive 0-0 draws. The signs point towards another tight, attritional contest in Emilia-Romagna, where risk might be the scarcest commodity.
Both coaches need a spark. Both fanbases need a reason to believe this season will not be spent staring over their shoulders.
Prediction: Parma 0-0 Genoa.
If that stalemate plays out again, the point might feel less like a platform and more like a warning for what lies ahead.
